Malvika Bansod is slowly learning the inescapable, undeniable, insurmountable truth in badminton. And sport. Power-hitting can swamp everything in sight.
The Indian 23-year-old with a subtle, intelligent and determined game was twice buried under a barrage of speedy power-strokes from Danish Mia Blichfeldt, as she went down 21-10, 21-15 in the final of the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany in 43 minutes.
Malvika looked in control in patches, and even flipped strategies to find a way through. But the taller Dane (Malvika is 160 cm, Mia is 172), simply overwhelmed the Indian with her power-game in racing to the finish in both games.
Mia is on a comeback from injury, and had dropped below Malvika in rankings. She was seeded 7 at Saarbrucken, and Malvika 6. But this is the same determined Dane who had once denied Saina Nehwal her third World Championship medal on sheer bull-headedness in not giving up.
On Sunday at the Super 300 finals, Malvika’s second since December 2022, the Indian would have discovered the limitations in her game, after starting fairly impressively to go up 4-1. It was the most delectable point of the match, Malvika first packing Mia back and then chiselling a short drop to the front court. Some of Malvika’s drops caught Mia hopping, but the threat was always in Mia hitting fierce shots that would go past the Indian.
As soon as Mia raised her tempo charging the net, she had Malvika in trouble, threatening to overpower and overwhelm her with a barrage. However, it was post 9-9 that the Dane truly took charge of the rallies and the shift in acceleration threw Malvika off.
Just as Mia got faster in her exchanges, Malvika lapsed into a predictable pattern. She was trying to find a way out, but the first game saw her reluctant to step up to the net and wrest control of the rallies. Mia kept hitting the tosses, striking the shuttle high which also was a reason for Malvika’s reticence.
How Malvika was overpowered
The Indian watched her errors bulge, and Mia’s sturdy defence also meant Malvika was forced to go for the lines. But her accuracy deserted her when put under the pump by Mia’s attack.
In the second game, Malvika fell back 5-9, but was at least showing courage to play from the net. She even had Mia in a spot of bother, but the net game demands ceaseless, unwrinkled accuracy, and the Indian’s wrist wasn’t powerful enough to completely dictate terms from the front court.
Malvika fell back 8-11, and in the second half relied on body attacks on Mia, which fetched her a few points. But she couldn’t sustain that attack, and once the Dane decided to amp up the pace, it was the same story as Game 1.
From 14-16, Mia powered through and broke away on an inevitable finishing kick and Malvika just couldn’t stem the one-way flow.
Malvika’s across-the-body defence deep into long rallies can still crack like a papadum, and elite players will simply raise the rally speed and crowd her thinking if she gets into a responding-defensive mode.
Players like Mia don’t need high intensity throughout the match, but can dominate in chunks and steal matches within a blink. And Malvika will need to find the strokes to turn the tables without getting drawn into back-and-forth exchanges.
Not everyone is blessed with immense power. But Malvika, still searching for her big title, will need to learn to neutralise her opponent’s power with decisive net play where the left-hander takes control of a rally and pins opponents back.
